Friday, January 26, 2007

Run baby, run

This is ridiculous. I spent the whole week looking forward to Friday night, just to get home, go to bed early and get some rest. I caught a cold and I taught from 9am until 8pm/10pm every single day. That's not even including class prep, writing exams and grading.

AND I had open classes on Tuesday and Wednesday - that's when the parents attend the class and then you talk to each of them about their kid. A real blast. So I'm officially wiped.

Yet I went out to dinner and bought the most delicious dark choco cookies "Le Petit Ecolier".

The brand brought back so many memories. Now that I think about it, last year was really great! Except of course that I used to eat like a pig when I was in France. Really.

Bread every day. Cheese; goat, mamirolle, brebiou, brie, camembert, bleu, comté.
Huge steaks. Even wild boar in a pear sauce.
Table d'hote almost every night.
Incredible desserts such as Charlotte a la chataigne and countless coulis.
Les petits lardons partout.
And of course the addictive saucisson and patés.
Smoked salmon with cream cheese.
Moules et frites.

We drank like you wouldn't believe. Vins d'alsace was my favourite. And let’s not forgot the tasty Pineau des Charentes. And beer. - although girls don't really drink beer in traditional France. French people just drink wine. The school would provide wine for lunch in the teachers' room. Yes. I know.

I recall riding my scooter through the breathtaking sceneries of the Mountains of Ardeche. A 20 minutes ride every day, with my visor wide open even during winter... just to feel the fresh breeze on my face.

My job was easy and everyone praised me. We'd meet for l'appéro amost every night with Cedric, Paolo, Sylvain and JP. It was so much fun. Cedric would cook cajun food.

And Patrick and I would have these endless nights, philosophing until the morning came. It was harmless and just so nice.

People would take me to the mountains. Cedric, JP and I had a memorable camping at the Chateau de Rochebonne - on top of a mountain, sitting by an abandoned castle, loving the view of the valley while enjoying a bonfire and some delicious saucisses merguez. What more could I ask for?

I remember walking all the way home a couple of times. It took me about two hours and a half. I had to go through mountains and the forest. Just me. Silence. Tress. Nature. Lovely. I'd get back to the moulinage all cold and happy. Made me feel lighter.

Got lost a couple of times. Some hunters took me back home. The same hunter that had killed a wild boar on our property and left a bloodbath behind them. They brought up a piece of meat in a plastic bag... all warm and bloody.

Roxy was the best. She was the love of my life! The most adorable Labrador in the world. She'd come with me every time I went for a walk. Which was every day. She guarded the huge mansion (it was gigantic!) when I was there all by myself.

Every night i'd go for a walk. There were no lights on the street. It was a small village with only one big road in the middle. We'd walk for at least an hour in the dark. First on the road, then we'd come back through the dark woods.

It's funny how I knew my way by heart. It was dark as hell and yet I could tell when there was a huge rock on the ground, a small river or anything, really. It was this big moment of silence before going to bed. I miss this so much.

Imagine going from this to Seoul. A cold city filled with skyscrapers. Strangers. In St-Christol everyone knew each other.

And the trips, oh the trips! France is probably one of the only countries in this world that has so many holidays!

I've been to Barcelona and partied with some German students on spring break and this cute guy studying medicine in Philly.

I went to Italy with my students and I literally acted like one of them.

I spent a week-end in London with Annabella and this was awesome. I also went to Paris a couple of times to hang out with her and we always had so much fun! Especially that night at her friend's place - this huge and classy house "en banlieue" where we stayed up until 7am. Good times!

And then this week skiing in the French Alps for New Year's! Oh my! Did we celebrate. And the sceneries were breathtaking! I'll never forget those.

As I was about to leave, Corinne lent me the keys to her apartment in Montpellier. I spent a few days there. Her place was by the beach. Oh it was incredible!

There’s just so many memories. So many. It makes me smile just to think about it. My last day teaching there my students took me outside and all my students showed up. They had brought cake, soft drinks and a farewell card and we played Jeopardy. They were adorable. Especially Sarah, the American student there. She’s just lovely!

Wow. I just shared a big chunk of my life here. I feel good. Yet it seems pointless.

I should go to bed now. Did I tell y’all that Danny got me this keychain with the emblem of Jejudo? How cute is this kid?!

This week-end I don’t wanna do anything. Last week-end was hectic – went out with Sunny on Friday night, dentist Saturday morning, shopping in the afternoon, dinner and movies with Ben that night, Sunday had lunch with Erika and then went to the gym, had dinner with Sunny and ended up grading and writing tests until midnight.

Ok here’s my list for this week-end:
- sleep in
- learn some Korean (I bought books and a cd last week-end!!)
- clean my place and wash the dishes
- meet up with Erika to plan our trip to Busan (for Lunar New year!)
- go to the gym with Kyungah and maybe the movies after
- grade papers and diaries
- play guitar and piano
- READ!
- Catch up with my emails (sorrrryyyyy!!!) and read my bro’s blog
- Get over my cold

Ok. Ok. Ok. Too much. Computer… can’t process… need…… sleep…..aaaaaaaah!! Run baby, run!
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